Tired Kane not up to speed - Pochettino

Harry Kane will take time to regain full fitness, Mauricio Pochettino stressed after Tottenham's draw with Stoke City.

Published

15 August 2015

Mauricio Pochettino said he substituted Harry Kane in Tottenham's draw with Stoke City because the striker was tired and revealed he is still in the market for another forward.

Kane was replaced by Erik Lamela after 64 minutes with Tottenham leading 2-0 at White Hart Lane and could only watch on as Stoke fought back to salvage a point courtesy of Marko Arnautovic's penalty and a Mame Biram Diouf header.

Tottenham head coach Pochettino defended his decision to bring Kane off, stating that the striker's participation in the European Under-21 championship for England has taken its toll.

"He was tired," said the former Southampton manager. "He came later into pre-season but this is normal. He needs time.

"Last season we spoke a lot about Harry Kane and the consequence [of playing for England Under-21s] you can see now. At 2-0 after 65-70 minutes I thought that was enough for him. Don't take risks with his body."

Clinton N'Jie was in the stands to watch his new Tottenham team-mates on Saturday after completing his move from Lyon shortly before kick-off.

Pochettino stated his intention to add more new faces following the arrival of the Cameroon international, with Tottenham short of attacking options following Roberto Soldado's switch to Villarreal on Friday.

"N'Jie can play in different positions. Centrally? He can play there but I think we need another centre forward," added the Argentinian.

"We need to add some more players to the squad but don't worry, I think today we deserved to win - it wasn't a problem about the strikers."